PC cards generally include a circuit board that supports circuit components, a sheet metal cover that surrounds the circuit board and that includes upper and lower sheet metal cover parts, a 68-contact connector at the front of the card, and a rear connector or cap at the rear of the card. A plastic molded frame that extends along the entire length of the card or short frame parts that may be integrally molded with the connectors or caps, hold each end of the circuit board to the connector or cap portion and to the sheet metal cover.
One approach, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,434 involves molding a frame that extends the entire length of the PC card and that includes a few cross braces that extend under the lower face of the card. A separately-molded front connector has lugs at its laterally opposite sides that are mounted on the frame. The long frame adds weight and takes up some area of the card, with the cross braces occupying valuable area at the lower face of the circuit board. The sheet metal upper and lower cover parts lie on surfaces at the front and rear of the frame, but there is poor bracing of the sides of the sheet metal cover to the frame.
Another approach, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,771 is to use a frameless IC card with mechanical connectors at the front and rear of the card that are fixed to the circuit board and that use the strength of the circuit board to substitute for a frame that extends the entire length of the card. Ends of the sheet metal cover are connected to the front and rear mechanical connectors, but side rails of the sheet metal cover are not connected to portions of the mechanical connectors closer to the middle of the length of the PC card to prevent lateral or sideward deflection or twisting of the cover with respect to the rest of the card.
A PC card with a mechanical connector or saddle at the front of the card for connecting to the front end of the circuit board, the front connector, and the sheet metal cover, which also mechanically connected to the opposite side rails of the cover, would be of value.